The present invention relates to elastic garments, and more particularly to therapeutic stockings.
In the recent past, therapeutic stockings have been prescribed on a relatively wide scale to prevent possible embolism in a patient. When a patient is confined to bed, for example, after an operation, the likelihood of thrombus is markedly increased due to a decrease in the velocity of blood flow in the patient's legs during confinement. Therapeutic or anti-embolism stockings cause application of a compressive pressure against the patient's leg which gradually decreases from the ankle toward the upper part of the leg. Such stockings increase the velocity of blood flow in the legs, and minimize the possibility of thromboembolism.
Anti-embolism stockings are made in assorted lengths, including those which terminate above the upper thighs of the patient, often termed thigh length stockings. A special difficulty has been encountered in the use of thigh length stockings for oversized patients, e.g., those patient's having a circumference of greater than 25 inches in the region of the upper thigh. Due to the greatly flared configuration of the upper thighs in the legs of such patients, thigh length stockings have a tendency to roll over at their tops, and then slip down the patient's legs. It is undesirable to make the stockings sufficiently tight to prevent such slippage, since the stockings would restrict blood flow through the confined area and would negate the advantages sought by the stocking.
A desirable alternative to thigh length stockings for oversized patients is a stocking which is supported about the patient's waist. Such waist stockings should also exert a compressive pressure against the wearer's leg with a pressure profile generally decreasing from the ankles into the upper thighs, and with the upper thigh portions of the stockings exerting a predetermined pressure in that region of the stocking. Since the stockings extend above the upper thighs of the patient, there is a possibility that the upper thigh portions of the stocking will not be located properly on the patient during placement. Also, due to the varying distances between the waist and the upper thighs of different patients, it may be difficult to properly place the upper thigh portions of a given stocking on an individual patient, or the upper thigh portion of the stocking may become misplaced while the stocking is worn.
The waist supported stocking preferably has openings in the lower abdominal region and for the buttocks to permit post-operative catheterization and wound healing in the perineal region and for bedpan use without removal of the stocking. However, a lower inner side edge of a stocking formed in this manner has a tendency to pull into the inner thighs of the patient, thus limiting passage of blood flow through the femoral vein, particularly if the side edge of the stocking assumes a relatively horizontal position during use. Additionally, such side edges may cause runs in the stockings.